William Douglas

William Douglas (died 1791) was a Scottish ship captain and an oceanographer maritime fur trader during the late 18th century. He worked with the British trader and Captain John Meares, commanding the ship Iphigenia Nubiana. He was involved in the Nootka Crisis of 1789, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war. A few years later he was captain of the American ship Grace. In 1791 he partnered with Captain John Kendrick in an attempt to open trade with Japan.

Captain of Iphigenia

Trading voyages of 1788

Preparations Douglas was an officer on Nootka during Meares's first fur trading voyage to the Pacific Northwest coast from 1786 to 1787. In 1788, in Macau, China, Meares formed a partnership of several merchants and captains, and purchased two new vessels, the snows Felice Adventurer and Iphigenia Nubiana—generally called Felice and Iphigenia. Meares took command of Felice. He made Douglas captain of Iphigenia and second in command of the expedition, noting in his later account that Douglas "was well acquainted with the coast of America". While Douglas was exploring the coast from Alaska to Nootka Sound, Meares would explore south along today's Washington and Oregon coasts. By this plan the two ships would be able to explore the whole coast from Spanish California to the Bering Sea. At the time the Pacific Northwest coast was still largely unexplored. Only its general shape and a few small harbors such as Nootka Sound had been charted. The possibility that a Northwest Passage might exist was taken seriously. Meares hoped to find it. In August Meares took Felice on another fur trading cruise, this time to Clayoquot Sound. He returned to Nootka Sound on 24 August. On August 26 Iphigenia was spotted. Captain Douglas anchored in Nootka Sound on the 27th.

Northern voyage As planned, Douglas had crossed the North Pacific to the Aleutian Islands. He entered Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound in Alaska, then cruised south, trading for furs along the way. Meares wrote that Douglas's voyage had confirmed that there was a "Great Northern Archipelago"—today's Alexander Archipelago and British Columbia Coast—and that earlier voyages had been exploring offshore islands rather than the mainland.

North West America was ready for sea a few weeks after Meares had left Nootka Sound. Captain Douglas, in preparing to sail, had all the tools and supplies on shore loaded onto Iphigenia and North West America. He also had his men tear down the "house" that Meares had built, not knowing, or not caring that Meares had promised to give it to the natives. Douglas gave some of the planks to John Kendrick, the American captain of Columbia Rediviva, which had arrived at Nootka Sound shortly after Lady Washington.

Douglas traded some cannons to Kendrick in exchange for additional provisions. Kendrick's longboats towed Douglas's ships out of Nootka Sound. After the British ships left, the local natives who had been very skittish since the Americans arrived, suddenly came in great numbers and soon a friendly trading relationship was established. According to the journals and logs of the Americans, Douglas and his men had treated the local natives very poorly—repeatedly taking food and provisions from them under the threat of force.

Wintering in the Hawaiian Islands On 27 October 1788 Iphigenia and North West America, under Douglas and Funter, left Nootka Sound for the Hawaiian Islands, where they spent the winter. The purpose was to avoid the unpleasant winter storms of the Pacific Northwest coast and for "refreshment". They arrived off the Hawaiian island of Maui on December 6. From there they sailed to the island of Hawaii. News of the return of Kaiana spread and many of his friends and relatives came to the ships to visit with him. Douglas anchored the ships in Kealakekua Bay. Other than Queen Charlotte, under Captain George Dixon, and King George, under Nathaniel Portlock, Iphigenia and North West America were the first European ships to visit Kealakekua Bay since James Cook was killed there. Kamehameha I came to Iphigenia on December 10. In 1795 Kamehameha established the Kingdom of Hawaii over most of the islands, but in 1788 was still struggling to gain control over the island of Hawaii. Kamehameha gave Douglas a large fan and two full-length cloaks made from the feathers of mamo and ʻŌʻō birds (both now extinct). Later, Douglas gave these cloaks to Captain Robert Gray, who in turn gave them to Esteban José Martínez. Douglas found that over the winter Kendrick had built a trading outpost, which he called Fort Washington. It had a house, a gun battery, a blacksmith forge, and various outbuildings. Douglas also learned that the Americans had already taken the winter's furs, arranged trading commitments from the village of Nootka Sound, gathered furs to the south, and were about to head north. Douglas knew he had to send North West America trading to the north as soon as possible.

On April 21 Douglas recorded the death of Acchon Aching. His body was taken ashore for burial—the first known case of an Asian, probably Chinese, dying and being buried in the Pacific Northwest. North West America was never returned to the British, it became a Spanish ship, renamed Santa Gertrudis la Magna and, later, Santa Saturnina.

During the summer of 1790 Douglas took Grace to the Pacific Northwest Coast to trade for furs. On the way back to Macau he stopped in Hawaii and picked up Kendrick's cargo of sandalwood and the two men who had been left to collect it. Douglas found that warfare was intensifying in Hawaii and the islands were becoming more dangerous. The maritime fur trader Simon Metcalfe had massacred hundreds of Native Hawaiians at Olowalu. In a separate event his son, Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe had been killed along with all but one of his crew, and his schooner, , had been captured.

When Douglas reached China he took Grace up the Pearl River to Guangzhou (Canton) and sold a rich cargo of furs. Then he sailed back down the river to join up with Kendrick, who had been working on Lady Washington in Dirty Butter Bay near Macau. Kendrick had remade Washington into a heavily armed two-masted brig or brigantine. The work had drained Kendrick's funds. The sandalwood shipment Douglas brought turned out to be a type low in aromatic oils and therefore not worth very much. To help Kendrick with provisioning and buying trade goods Douglas lent him $2,320.

As the two ships approached Japan they were caught in a storm and swept toward the Kii Peninsula by the Kuroshio Current. Seeking shelter they entered the channel between the village of Koza on the mainland and the island Kii Ōshima, then moved into a protected bay behind the island, near the fishing village of Kushimoto. The village headman, Kichigo, sent a message to the daimyō at Wakayama Castle, as did the headman of Koza village. After the storm passed a few villagers approached the ships, despite the law forbidding contact with foreigners. Kendrick invited them on board Washington and a few did. Some of the Chinese crewmen were able to communicate via written notes. They said they had been driven to port by the storm and would not stay more than three to five days, but also that they carried trade goods, especially sea otter furs. Kendrick and Douglas soon discovered that the Japanese had no interest in sea otter fur and regarding the wearing of fur as barbaric. The persistent rumor that there was a rich, untapped fur market in Japan proved false. The villagers dissuaded Kendrick and Douglas from visiting Osaka, saying they would be arrested and their ships confiscated.

Legacy Iphigenia Bay, in Alaska, is named for Douglas's ship, as is Iphigenia Point in British Columbia. In Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands), Coneehaw Rock is named for a Haida chief with whom Douglas traded and exchanged names. Douglas Rock is located nearby.

Dixon Entrance, between British Columbia and Alaska, was given the name Douglass Entrance by Meares.